Box spacing means



April 26, 1949. E, PRATl 2,468,231

BOX SPACING MEANS FiledI Jan. 26, 1946 n A C-// Lf/ n INVENTOR. ENQ/C0DADAT/ BY M @o Patented Apr. 26, 1949 2,463,231 y Box sPAclNo. MEANSEnrico Prati, Asti, Calif., assignor to Ida Prati, Asti, Josephine PratiPolandi, San Francisco, and Edward Prati, Asti, Calif.

` Application January 26, 1946, Serial No. 643,589

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to fruit boxes or the like andparticularly to cleats on such boxes secured to and arranged thereon ina manner that w1ll greatly facilitate the proper stacking or loading ofboxes, especially when it is desired that free circulation of airbetween boxes be permitted.

In loading fruit boxes and the like in railroad cars, it is desirablethat the load bebraced against shifting While the car is in transit andalso par-A ticularly where the merchandise in the boxes is of aperishable nature to space the boxes so as to provide for freecirculation of air between them. In refrigerator cars, for example,where ice bunkers are disposed at the ends of the cars, the boxesareusually loaded in straight rows lengthwise of the cars withsuiiicient space between them to permit free circulation of cool air toprevent spoilage of the contents of the boxes. This is usuallyaccomplished by nailing strips of wood across the boxes so that they aremaintained in properly spaced relation. This method of spacing the boxesis, however, quite costly and undesirable in that it consumes a gooddeal of time and material which is lost each time the car the box islifted andwhich is secured to the box in a manner and position whichinsures Ventilating space between stacks of boxes. Still further andmore specific objects and advantages of the invention are made apparentin the following specification wherein reference is made to theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a box having cleats secured thereto inaccordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is'a view in side elevation of two boxes like that shown in Fig.1 and illustrating the cooperative relationship of the cleats;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view of two box ends, before they are assembled with theother parts which form a box, illustrating the manner in which thecleats may be applied thereto.

In Fig. l of the drawings, a conventional box n isillustrated as havingtwo long sides I0 and two shorter sides or ends Il, all of which areassembled together with a bottom in conventional manner and in somecases the boxes are provided with cleat members I2 secured to the upperedges of the end members Il.

According to the present invention, each of the ends il of the box isprovided with a cleat, such cleats being herein designated by thereference characters a and b. The cleats are secured to the ends of theboxes by nailing which is the conventional means of securing togetherall of the other box parts and are made oi elongated pieces of woodsubstantially square in cross section. Each of the cleats is disposed ata diagonal with relation to the square of the box end and, asillustrated in Fig. 1, the cleat a is inclined in one direction whilethe cleat b is inclined in the opposite direction. The cleats are soarranged that they serve as convenient handles by means of which theboxes may be lifted so that in picking up the boxes and depositing themon a stack, it is unnecessary for the fingers to be placed beneath thebottom edges of the boxes and therefore handling of the boxes isconsiderably easier and safer than it is when no cleats are provided.

A more important function of the cleats a and b, however, is illustratedin Fig. 2 of the drawings where two boxes, such as shown in Fig. 1, areshown disposed in end to end relationship with the cleats a and b attheir adjacent opposed ends in contact with each other and maintain-.ing the boxes spaced from each other at a sufficient distance to admita draft of air to pass between the boxes. Obviously, if a great num berof boxes are stacked in tiers as in the load- `ing of a refrigerator caror truck or even when the boxes are stacked in awarehouse or in thefield, they are automatically spaced from each other because of theexistence of the cleats a and b on their ends. Furthermore, the diagonalposition and arrangement of the cleats a and b are such that regardlessof the number of boxes stacked or whether they are turned end for end.there is contact between the cleats because of the fact that the cleatsare diagonally arranged and oppositely inclined on opposite ends of thebox. When any two ends of any two boxes are placed together, the cleatsassume the crossed relationship illustrated in Fig. 3 which shows thecentrally disposed cleats a and b in Fig. 2 in dotted lines. In thisposition, the cleats contact each other at points substantiallycentrally of the box ends and, while the boxes are maintained spacedfrom each other a distance which is equal analisi to the distance of twocleats. there is only one very small area of contact between the cleatsand the remainder oi' the space between the boxes is maintainedunobstructed for the free passage of air. This diagonal arrangement oi'the cleats on the ends of the boxes has the further advantage thatshould the fboxes be ot slightly diilerent height or for any reasonunevenly stacked, the cleats will always contact each other and there isno opportunity for the cleats to overlap or ride one on top of eachother as would be the case with horizontally disposed cleats in theevent the boxes were not carefully stacked or in the event that thetruck or car on which they were carried was subjected to severevibration as might be occasioned by a rough roadbed.

Another advantage of the diagonal cleat ar.

rangement herein disclosed is thatA the cleats may be quickly andconveniently applied by nailing them to the box ends before the box endsare made up into boxes, and -this operation is -facilitated by the factthat all of the cleats may be applied with their inclination in the samedirection as may be understood from an examination of Fig. 4 of thedrawings. In this gure. two of the box ends il are shown as they wouldappear before being made up in a box with the cleats a and b appliedthereto. As is apparent from Fig. 4, the cleats a and b assume the samedirection of inclination and all oi' the box ends may be provided withcleats without reference to which end of the box the particular box endin hand is eventually to occupy. 'Ihis is true because of the fact thatwhile the cleats a and b shown in Fig. 4 are similarly inclined. areversal of either of the box ends shown which brings it into positionto form the opposite end of a box with a cleat on the outer side, alsoreverses the direction of inclination ofthe cleat. Consequently, cleatsa and b shown in Fig. 4, though similarly inclined, are alwaysoppositely inclined when the box ends are made up into a box as -iilusftrated in Fig. 1.` This same reversal of the di- -rection of inclinationof the cleat automatically insures that no box can ever be llvlaceclagainst another box in end to end relationship in such a manner that thecleats will not assume the delost upon being removed. The presentdisclosure is oi boxes having cleats arranged at their shorter sides orends but it is, of course, to be understood that the same type of cleatscould be arranged on the longer side of Ithe box, if desired.

I claim:

A rectangular box having lbox spacing means secured to its oppositeends, said means comprising only one cleat secured diagonally to eachend and extending substantially over the center of the box end, saidcleats being oppositely inclined with rela-tion to each other andprojecting outwardly from the surfaces of the box ends.

ENRICO PRATI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES ATENTS Number Name Date 488,997 Glidewell et al. Jan. 3,1893 916,360 McFarland et al. Mar. 23, 1909 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 103,096 Great Britain Jan. 1l, 191'? 322,817 Great BritainDec. 16, 1929 371,587 Italy May 1939

